Sarkisian led Texas to its first win at home against the No. 1 team in the country since 1950. Scott Wachter / Imagn Images
Sept. 12, 2026 Updated Sept. 13, 2026 12:53 am EDT
The biggest regular-season win of the Steve Sarkisian era at Texas had some … technical difficulties.
After some issues thwarted his scheduled halftime interview with ESPN’s Laura Rutledge, Sarkisian had an awkward exchange with ESPN’s Holly Rowe in the moments following the Longhorns’ memorable 24-23 come-from-behind win over No. 1 Ohio State Saturday night in Austin.
As folks in burnt orange began celebrating the program’s fifth all-time win over a top-ranked opponent, Rowe attempted to begin her postgame interview with Sarkisian but couldn’t finish a question. Sarkisian interrupted her and screamed, “Let’s go, Texas fight! Let’s go, Texas fight!” into the microphone before adding “Hook ‘Em!” and walking off.
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It capped an odd evening with ESPN for the Texas head coach.
After a lackluster first half in which the Longhorns trailed the Buckeyes 20-3, Rutledge was unable to ask Sarkisian questions before halftime, as is customary for both coaches during high-profile ESPN/ABC broadcasts, after technical issues kept the Texas coach waiting.
Texas completes comeback over Ohio State
Chris Vannini
Rutledge eventually spoke with Sarkisian after Texas came out of the locker room to start the second half and clarified what happened at halftime.
“I do want to make sure we clear something up: (Sarkisian) did decline the interview at the half,” Rutledge said before the start of the third quarter. “He had waited a long time, been very patient with some technical issues that we had. He apologized to us. We should be apologizing to him, which we did.”
According to a Texas spokesperson, ESPN’s technical difficulties arose once again on the field postgame, which played a role in Sarkisian’s demeanor with Rowe.
Sep 13, 2026
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